Hello!

I have gotten myself into an unfortunate pickle and its entirely my own fault.

My average is going to be in the 50s and I am going to fail one class. I could give you 100 reasons as to why I am in this situation but it all burns down to myself screwing up and over estimating my own abilities. I will not be making the same mistakes again but I don't know how to proceed from this point. Hopefully these answers will point me in the direction I need to go.

- First and most importantly have I messed it up completely or do I still have second semester to correct my mistakes? With the zero my average might drop below 50. I read in a previous thread that I will be put on probation and will have next semester to prove myself but I would like to confirm that.

- The class I am failing is a full year language course, if dropped now could I pick something to replace it for next semester and still get one credit?

- Although I dropped the ball and messed it up I would still like to attempt the language again, would a language class be available in the summer?

- Am I still able to make an appointment with my academic adviser? Its been about 5 days without a reply to my email.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Mitchell

Originally Posted by Nifix

Hello!

I have gotten myself into an unfortunate pickle and its entirely my own fault.

My average is going to be in the 50s and I am going to fail one class. I could give you 100 reasons as to why I am in this situation but it all burns down to myself screwing up and over estimating my own abilities. I will not be making the same mistakes again but I don't know how to proceed from this point. Hopefully these answers will point me in the direction I need to go.

- First and most importantly have I messed it up completely or do I still have second semester to correct my mistakes? With the zero my average might drop below 50. I read in a previous thread that I will be put on probation and will have next semester to prove myself but I would like to confirm that.

- The class I am failing is a full year language course, if dropped now could I pick something to replace it for next semester and still get one credit?

- Although I dropped the ball and messed it up I would still like to attempt the language again, would a language class be available in the summer?

- Am I still able to make an appointment with my academic adviser? Its been about 5 days without a reply to my email.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Mitchell

1. I don't know where you heard that, but grades aren't reviewed in December. You have until the end of the session (i.e. April) to pull up your grades and avoid being put on probation. However, if your average is below 50%, that implies it is well below the minimum GPA to continue at the university, even on probation. You should stop thinking about your average in terms of percent - that's not the way it's done at Mac. Calculate your GPA on the 12-point scale and it will give you a better idea of where you stand. Regardless, you do have until April to get your grades up.

2. You can drop it now - the last date to drop a term 3 course without academic penalty is the same as the last date to drop a term 2 course, and you can also add another, because the drop/add date for term 2 has not passed. Look up the add/drop dates for this term and you can see the specific deadlines. You will lose the money from first term of the language course (and possibly might not get refunded at all - I can't recall the fee schedule but you can look it up).

3. A language course will probably be offered, but it may not be the language you want. Cross that bridge when you come to it - it's not really an urgent issue, and summer courses count towards the following year's average, not the previous year, so courses you take in summer 2015 won't help raise this year's average. It will affect your CA and may help if you do well and apply for reinstatement, but that's about it.

4. Go in person or phone them.

As Starfish said, get off your ass and walk down to the academic advisor's office. Each one of your questions are best directed at the academic advisor. Why do students continue to think that MI is the congregating point for all academic advisors of McMaster?

If you don't mind me asking, what language course are you currently taking?

On another note, as the other posters have said, it's best to go to academic advisor about this. They are the best people to ask and will give you great advice about what to do in your current situation.

Originally Posted by starfish

1. I don't know where you heard that, but grades aren't reviewed in December. You have until the end of the session (i.e. April) to pull up your grades and avoid being put on probation. However, if your average is below 50%, that implies it is well below the minimum GPA to continue at the university, even on probation. You should stop thinking about your average in terms of percent - that's not the way it's done at Mac. Calculate your GPA on the 12-point scale and it will give you a better idea of where you stand. Regardless, you do have until April to get your grades up.

2. You can drop it now - the last date to drop a term 3 course without academic penalty is the same as the last date to drop a term 2 course, and you can also add another, because the drop/add date for term 2 has not passed. Look up the add/drop dates for this term and you can see the specific deadlines. You will lose the money from first term of the language course (and possibly might not get refunded at all - I can't recall the fee schedule but you can look it up).

3. A language course will probably be offered, but it may not be the language you want. Cross that bridge when you come to it - it's not really an urgent issue, and summer courses count towards the following year's average, not the previous year, so courses you take in summer 2015 won't help raise this year's average. It will affect your CA and may help if you do well and apply for reinstatement, but that's about it.

4. Go in person or phone them.

Thank you, I really appreciate this. I most likely misunderstood what was said in the other thread about probation.

Originally Posted by 2Dream

As Starfish said, get off your ass and walk down to the academic advisor's office. Each one of your questions are best directed at the academic advisor. Why do students continue to think that MI is the congregating point for all academic advisors of McMaster?

I was hoping to have an appointment set up via email but you are right I should have just went there in the first place.

Since I was waiting (as you said should have just went there) the first question was eating away at me and causing me to be very nervous. This may also just be for myself but if the answer to my first question was that I could not continue I think it would be better to hear it bluntly online so I could come to terms with it before heading to the meeting.

Originally Posted by akikokoyoki

If you don't mind me asking, what language course are you currently taking?

On another note, as the other posters have said, it's best to go to academic advisor about this. They are the best people to ask and will give you great advice about what to do in your current situation.

Japanese, I was really enjoying it so I hope to get another chance at it or another language in the future.



Thank you to everyone!

Originally Posted by Nifix

Japanese, I was really enjoying it so I hope to get another chance at it or another language in the future.

I took Beginners Japanese with Iwai-sensei four years ago. It wasn't the easiest course but I manage to pass it with a decent grade. If you want to get another chance, you can try again in the summer time even though the course will be more compact than the regular fall/winter one.

There are other languages offered in the Department of Linguistics and Languages such as French, Spanish, German, Russian, Polish, Italian. French, Spanish and Italian have similar grammar since they belong to the same language family. Some find German to be an easy language course but I can't say for sure since I never took the course. It takes a lot of memorization and time outside of class time for them. I know these things because I used to be a Linguistics major and I took many language courses. If you have questions about languages and such, don't hesitate to ask